Diglycidyl ether of dihydroxypoly-chlorobiphenyls and epoxy resins therefrom



3,904,951 Patented Oct. 17, 1961 3 004,951 One method of preparing the dihydroxypolychlorobi- DIGLYCIDYL ETHER F DIHYDROXYPOLY, phenyls is by the hydrolysis of a polychlorobiphenyl com- CHLORQBIPHENYLS AND EPOXY RESINS position with an alkaline material such as sodium hy- THEREFRQM droxide, or potassium hydroxide, in an alcoholic solution 3oachirn Dazzi, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Monsanto 5 as disclosed in U.S, Patent No. 2,449,088. The poly- Chemlcal p Louis, a corporation (if chlorobiphenyls and mixtures thereof containing from Delaware about 62 to about 71 percent chlorine can be prepared N0 gg gg 8 1 g 763,465 by the direct chlorination of biphenyl in the presence'of an iron catalyst asfor example as shown in US. Patent This invention relates to a new class of diglycidyl others 10 and to the epoxy resins made therefrom. More particu- V The dig y y ether of e i sta t dihydroxypolychlorolarly this invention relates to the diglycidyl ethers of biphenyls can be readily prepared by the reaction of the polychlorobiphenols and mixtures thereof, wherein the biphenol with an excess of epichloronydrin, preferably average number of chlorine atoms per biphenol molecule from about 4 to about 10 moles per mole of the biphenol, is at least 5. in the presence of about 0.5 to about 1 mole of an alkali Numerous diglycidyl ethers'of polyphenolic'compounds metal hydroxide, e.g. sodium hydroxide and potassium and the epoxy resins prepared therefrom are well known hydroxide, at a temperature of from about 90 C. to in the prior art, These compositions a e prepared by the reflux temperature of the mixture to .eifect the formathe reaction of a halohydrin, e,g epichlomhydrin, di tion of the bis-l-chloro-2-hydroxy-3-glyceryl ether of the chlorohydrin, and 1,2-dichloro-3-hydroxypropane, with biphenol. Then the excess epichlorohydrin is distilled oil a polyphenolic compound, e.g. hydroquinone, resorcinol, and the reaction mixture diluted with an aromatic solcatechol, phloroglucinol, bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)methane vent such as benzene or chlorobenzene, and the inter- (bisphenol F), bis(phydroxyphenyl)dimethylmethane mediate is dehydrochlorinated by the addition thereto'of (bisphencl A), 2,4-dihydroxyphenyl-4'-hydroxyphenyldifrom about 1.75 to about 2 moles of alkali metal hymethylmethane, 4,4-dihydroxybiphenyl, di(p-hydroxyfiIOXidB P H1013 0f the Original biPhellol and refluxing phenyDsulfonc, long-chain diphenolic compoundsnovoth reaction mixture to form the diglycidyl ether. The lac resins, and the like. alkali metal salts are then removed by filtration, decante- The principal object of this'inventionis to provide an tion, washing, or other suitable means and the aromatic improved epoxy resin composition. Another object of solvent distilled from the reaction mixture to recover this invention is to'provide a novel class of epoxy resins the diglycidyl ether product. which have improved resistance to burning and are par- The instant diglycidyl others can be converted to higher ticularly useful in providing insulation in electrical apmolecular wei P Y resins and p y with the paratus and materials. Still another object 'of'this inconventional curing agents. The present compositions vention is to provide a novel class of diglycidyl ethers of can also be employed with other prior art epoxy compolychlorobiphenols and mixtures thereofwbich can be positions to modify their properties and produce a com readily cured by the addition thereto of a polyclcdorobiposition having a higher rate of'react'on. In gener l, phenol of the same class as employed to "produce the it is preferred that much mixed compositions contain at diglycidyl ether. Other objects and advantages of this least about 50 percent of the polychloroepoxy resins of invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this invention. The instant diglycidyl others also can .be the following disclosure. readily cured by reaction with the dihydroxypolychloro- It has now been found that the 'di 'lycidyl others of 'biphenyl compositions employed in the preparation of said dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyls and m xtures thereof, others as further illustrated hereinafter. wherein the average number of chlorine atoms per bi- The following examples are illustrative of this invenphenol molecule is at least 5, have unique properties and tion. provide a novel class of epoxy resins which are useful Example 1 and complex shaped objects, for the fabrication of varirac c t'n s for h cadin of variou" 'sim le as 51 L e gal a t 6 a p A Z-hter, 3-necked, round-bottom flask equipped'wrth a stirrer, dropping funnel, condenser and thermometer was charged with 411 g. (1 mole) of the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl composition obtained by the hydrolysis of a polychlorobiphenyl containing 68 percent chlorine. To this was added 556 g. (6 moles) of epichlorohydrin and the mixture was stirred together and heated to 90 C. Then 80 ml. (1 mole) of a percent aqueous so- 55 dium hydroxide solution was introduced over a period HO on of 17 minutes and a mildly exothermic reaction started when about 45 ml. of the caustic solution had been added over the first 7 minutes. The reaction mixture was re- (c1), (CD3 fluxed for 40 minutes after the final addition of the wherein the sum of x and-n is anumber from 5 to 8. caustic solution. Then the excess epichlorohydrin and The diglycidylation of the aforesaid 'class'of diphenolio the water from the caustic solution were distilled 01f ions laminates, e.g. glass fiber laminates, and tbe'like. The instant class of novel epoxy resins are particularly useful in the electrical industry in the coating of electrical 50 'wire and cable, the preparation of motor and transformer "coils, fabrication of electrical capacitors, etc. The dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyls suitable for use in the 'instant invention can be illustrated by the structural forcompounds can be illustrated as follows: through a 10-inch Vigreux column under reduced pres- "n H 9 no on :0 cronihnonro OCHZCHCHQCI aOH) 2,? 44201011, HCH (C1): 1):: 1): ((31)::

n 'n 0 0 0 o I l .olonsonoazo OCHzCIICHaCl-HNaOH onioncnzo oomon E! reflux with stirring, and again decanted. decantations with benzene were repeated with two addisure. The residue was held at 100 C. with good stirring 7 under a pressure of 1 to 2 mm. of mercury for 20 minwith 400 ml. of benzene and then filtered and the residue washed with additional benzene.

The benzene was recovered from the filtrate by distillation under reduced pressure and the final traces of benzene and volatiles removed by heating 20 minutes at 140 C. and 1 to 2 mm.

of mercury. 'The light amber diglycidyl ether composition had a melting point of 49 to 50 C. and was analyzed 4 composition had a melting point of 60 to 64 C. and the epoxy content of duplicate samples was found to be 5.31 and 5.37 percent, corresponding to about 95.5 percent of theory for monomeric diglycidyl ether of 4,4'dihydroxyoctachlorobiphenyl.

The instant diglycidyl ethers are unique in that they can be readily cured with the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl compositions employed in the preparation of the said ethers. In contradistinction thereto bisphenol A and tetrachlorobisphenol A do not cure the corresponding diglycidyl ethers respectively prepared therefrom. Up to about mole equivalents of the particular dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl compositions are employed to eflect the for epoxy content, which was found to be 5.40 percent,

tothat disclosed in Example 1. 'The reaction vessel was charged with 618 g. (1.5 moles) of the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl'described in Example 1 and 832 g. (9

moles) of epichlorohydrin and the mixture heated to 95 C. with stirring. Then 120 ml. (1.5 moles) of a 50 percent aqueous sodium hydroxide solution Was added over a period of 35 n1inutes and thereafter the mixture was refluxed for 40 minutes. After cooling to 58 C., 700 ml. of water was added and the mixture transferred to a separatory funnel whereby the wash-water aqueous phase was readily removed and the organic phase returned to the reaction vessel. The excess epichlorohydrin was removed by distillation at 100 C. under reduced pressure of 25 mm. and finally down to 2 mm. of mercury. Then 500 g. of benzene was added and the reaction mixture heated to reflux, after which 240 ml; (3 moles) of a 50 percent aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was introduced and refluxing continued for' a total of about 13.5

hours and the water collected in a Dean and Stark trap. The hot solution was then decanted from the sodium chloride and a liter of benzene introduced, heated to The washtional 800-1111. portions of benzene. The benzene solution was then filtered, the filtrate washed, then dried, and the benzene removed by distillation under reduced pressure. The light amber diglycidyl ether composition had a melting point of 46 to 47 C. and the epoxy content of duplicate samples was found to be 5.49 and 5.54 percent, corresponding to about 91 percent of theory for monomeric diglycidyl ether of the charged dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl composition.

Example 3 A dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl prepared by the hydrolysis of a polychlorobiphenyl containing 71 percent chlorine was identified as 4,4 dihydroxyoctachlorobiphenyl. A 115.5-g. portion (0.25 mole) of said compound was introduced into a reaction vessel, equipped as in Ex- '-ample 1, then 231 g. (2.5 moles) of epichlorohydrin was C. and 1 mm of mercury. The yellowish diglycidyl ether' formation of a high molecular weight epoxy resin composition. From the analysis of the epoxy content of the particular diglycidyl ether it is possible to readily determine the quantity of dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl required to produce the desired average molecular weight epoxy resin. Since the diglycidylfether and diphenolic compositions are-both difunctional the epoxy resin will be linear in the absence of materials and conditions effecting cross-linking through the hydroxyl groups. It also will be understood that greater than mole equivalents of the said diphenolic composition can be employed whereby up to 2 moles of the diphenolic composition can be reacted with the diglycidyl ether and the new resin composition will then containsubstantially all phenolic terminal groups, which can in turn be reacted with additional diglycidyl ether to produce a high molecular weight resin by stepwise reactions. However, it is generally preferred to employ a one-step process using up to about 1 mole and preferably from about 0.5 to about 1 mole of the diphenolic composition per mole of the diglycidyl ether.

Also it has been found that the dihydroxypolychloro biphenyl compositions'employed to prepare the instant 'diglycidyl ethers can be used to cure other diglycidyl ether compositions. Thus the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl composition of Example 1 was found to effect rapid curing of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A at a temperature of 190 to 200 C. whereas bisphenol A per se failed to effect a cure of its diglycidyl ether at 200 C. over a period of about 18 hours, and tetrachlorobisphenol A also failed to effecta cure at 200 C. for 18 hours. a

It has been found that the diglycidyl ether of 4,4'-dihydroxy-3,5,3',5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl can be prepared by the methods employed in the above examples. However, it was found that the dehydrochlorination step required up to about 50 hours, whereas the dehydrochlorination step for the instant diglycidyl ethers can be effected in 8 hours or less. a

The instant diglycidyl ethers also unexpectedly have been found to react very rapidly in comparison with the prior art conventional epoxy compositions. For example, the instant diglycidyl ethers react very rapidly with drying oil fatty acids to provide coating compositions having the reaction with prior art compositions. In several parallel experiments various diglycidyl ethers were reacted with soya fatty acids at 200 C. and the rate of esterification determined. In the heat-up period about 15 percent of the acid reacted with each of the diglycidyl ether of 4,4'-dihydroxy-3,5,3,5-tetrachlorobiphenyl and the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol, A, and their respective reaction times thereafter at 200 C. to effect esterification was 11.8 and 8.7 hours; about 20 percent of the acid reacted with the diglycidyl ether of tetrachlorobisphenol A in the heat-up period and the subsequent esterification reaction time was 6 hours; whereas about percent of the acid reacted with the diglycidyl ether of the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl composition of the instant invention, which initially contained 70 percent chlorine, corresponding to an average of about 8 chlorine atoms per biphenol molecule, in the heat-up period and the subsequent esterification reaction time was 0.5 hour. Similarly the diglycidyl ether of the dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl composition of the instant invention, which initially contained 62 percent chlorine, corresponding to an average of about 5 chlorine atoms per biphenol molecule, was materially more reactive than the prior art compositions in that it had an esterification reaction time of about 1.5 hours.

The instant diglycidyl ethers can also be cured with acid anhydrides in addition to the acids to provide high molecular weight, crosslinked, insoluble, tough, polymeric compositions which are useful as coating compositions. For example, a diglycidyl ether of the instant invention, such as produced in Example 1, was formulated with 50 weight percent of maleic anhydride to provide a composition which did not soften at 300 C. and exhibited an excellent adhesion to glass.

In addition the instant epoxy resins can be formulated with various other heat-reactive resins as, for example, phenol formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde, melamineformaldehyde, and other resins, preferably by blending about 25 to 50 weight percent of the heat-reactive resin, or mixtures thereof, with the instant epoxy resins. The rate of cure of the various resin combinations will depend on the particular resins selected and the curing temperature employed, but in general will require times in the order of about an hour at about 125 C. to several minutes at about 200 C., etc.

The instant epoxy resins can also be cured at room temperature by the incorporation therein of various polyamines such as ethylene diamine, diethylene t-riamine, triethylene tetraamine, and the like, to provide tack-free coatings in a few hours, with subsequent curing for several days. The time of curing for such compositions can be reduced to a matter of minutes by heating, as for example above about 100 C.

I claim:

1. A diglycidyl ether of dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyls having the formula CHzCHCHaO OCH:CH CH1 wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8.

2. The diglycidyl ethers of claim 1, wherein the sum ofx and n is about 7.

3. The diglycidyl ethers of claim 1, wherein the sum of x and n is about 6.

4. The diglycidyl ethers of claim 1, wherein the sum of x and n is about 5.

'5. The diglycidyl ether of 4,4-dihydroxyoctachlorobiphenyl.

6. The method of preparing a diglycidyl ether of dihy droxypolychlorobipheny-ls having the formula 0 C(HkHCHiO wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8, comprising effecting the reaction of a dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl and mixtures thereof defined by the structural formula HO OH wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8, with an excess of epichlorohydrin and from about 0.5 to about 1 mole of an alkali metal hydroxide, at a temperature of from about C. to the reflux temperature of the reaction mixture to effect the formation of the l-chloro- 2-hydroxy-3-glyceryl ether of the biphenol; distilling ofi the excess epichlorohydn'n; diluting the reaction mixture with an aromatic solvent; introducing from about 1.75 to about 2 moles of an alkali metal hydroxide per mole of biphenol and refluxing the reaction mixture to efiect dehydrochlorination of the intermediate; removing the alkali metal salt and aromatic solvent; and recovering the diglycidyl ether.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein the epichlorohydrin is employed in an amount of from about 4 to about 10 moles per mole of biphenol.

8. The process of claim 7, 'wherein the alkali metal hydroxide is sodium hydroxide.

9. The process of claim 7, wherein the alkali metal hydroxide is potassium hydroxide.

10. The process of claim 8, wherein the aromatic solvent is benzene.

11. The process of claim 9, wherein the aromatic solvent is chlorobenzene.

12. An epoxy resin prepared by curing a diglycidyl ether of dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyls having the formula CHQCHCHZO OCHrCHCH:

wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8, with a member selected from the group consisting of a dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyl and mixtures thereof defined by the structural formula HO OH (Cl); (CD11 HO OH wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the diglycidyl ether is selected from the group consisting of a diglycidyl ether of dihydroxypolychlorobiphenyls having the formula 0 O ({HIEHOHIO OCHrHEH:

wherein the sum of x and n is a number from 5 to 8.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the curing temperature is from about to about 200 C.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the diglycidyl ether is the diglycidyl ether of bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)dimethylmethane and the curing temperature is from about 140 to about 200 C.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,449,088 Smith Sept. 14, 1948 2,615,008 Greenlee Oct. 21, 1952 2,849,416 Bender et al. Aug. 26, 1958 

1. A DIGLYCIDYL ETHER OF DIHYDROXYPOLYCHLOROBIPHENYLS HAVING THE FORMULA 